This report describes the research undertaken to develop reach specific water quality objectives for the lower Athabasca River that reflect protection of designated water uses. The approach used in is based on methods outlined by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment and fall into two destinct strategies: an anti-degradation strategy and a use protection strategy. The Athabasca River Model (ARM) was used to define the background concentrations and to predict water quality constituent concentrations based on spatial and temporal loadings from existing, approved, and planned developments.